Stiff sentence sought for teen's convicted killer

Friday

Prosecutors want to send the man convicted of killing 16-year-old Desiree Case in Utica nearly 15 years ago back to prison for as long as possible.

Prosecutors want to send the man convicted of killing 16-year-old Desiree Case in Utica nearly 15 years ago back to prison for as long as possible.

The sentencing of Earl Wright, 32, on weapon and drug charges was postponed Friday so that prosecutors with the Oneida County District Attorney’s Office can argue that he should face 15 years to life in prison as a “persistent felony offender.”

Oneida County Court Judge Michael L. Dwyer scheduled a hearing for Monday, Nov. 17, to confirm Wright’s past convictions, which include the sale of drugs in 2001 and manslaughter in 2003 for killing Case in West Utica.

Although Wright pleaded guilty to Case’s homicide, he later insisted he was innocent. Wright was released from prison in 2012 after serving less than 10 years, prompting Case’s family to feel a “slap in the face” that nobody told them Wright was getting out.

Wright, of Syracuse, was only out of prison for about a year when he was arrested again in December 2013 as a passenger in a vehicle stopped by Utica police. Wright jumped from the moving vehicle and quickly surrendered before he was charged with possessing a handgun that was found near him, as well as several baggies of heroin found in the police vehicle after Wright had been transported.

A jury found Wright guilty of five felonies in September, and prosecutors are saying that Wright’s criminal past warrants him receiving a stiff sentence, including the possibility of life behind bars.

“I think that given his past record of involvement with the criminal justice system, coupled with the fact that he was in possession of a loaded pistol and a large quantity of heroin, militate toward the People seeking the maximum punishment he could receive under the law,” Assistant District Attorney Grant Garramone said.

Wright, however, is already preparing to appeal his latest conviction because he believes police initially detained him unlawfully once they discovered his link to Case’s 2000 homicide.

Follow @OD_LaDuca on Twitter or call him at 792-5037.

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